Class Gene Warriors — The Big Shot

Lu Yuan returned to his room and checked the time. Just past five in the morning.

On his way back, he had taken the opportunity to question Pete about the Black Rat Gang's strength. The picture he got was reassuring: in a slum gang like this, even the boss was only a first-rank Gene Warrior at best. Pete himself was Trainee Rank — and that already put him among the organization's upper leadership. A first-rank Gene Warrior wasn't something Lu Yuan had much reason to fear, and nobody at that level would bother pursuing a grudge over something so trivial.

Li Qinghe was still waiting in the hallway.

"Nothing serious," Lu Yuan said. "That was someone from the Black Rat Gang. They came looking for trouble and I dealt with it."

"The Black Rat Gang?"

Something flickered briefly in Li Qinghe's eyes. Then her expression shifted, widening into alarm.

"That's a huge organization! Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I'm fine." Lu Yuan shook his head. "They won't be coming back."

Li Qinghe let out a slow breath. The tension left her shoulders.

"Why were they after you, though?" she asked, studying him with curious eyes.

Lu Yuan had been turning this over. He weighed whether to say anything about the shadow at all — but the thing had been appearing more and more frequently throughout the slums lately. She should probably know to be careful.

"Recently," he said, "a strange shadow has been appearing in this district. It attaches itself to people, and they die suddenly — no apparent cause. This morning I heard that some Black Rat Gang members had run into it. I asked about it on a whim. Didn't expect them to show up at my door the same night."

Li Qinghe's pupils contracted slightly. The fear that crossed her face was genuine. She hugged her arms close to herself.

"Something like that is actually out there?" she said. "It's not... haunted, is it?"

Lu Yuan saw the fright on her face and couldn't stop a smile from surfacing.

"There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Then maybe some kind of creature — an Aberration?"

Lu Yuan frowned. "Normally this would be a Night Watchmen matter. But from what I've heard, the Local Governor filed a report and no one ever came to take the case."

He shook his head. "There's a reason this district stays as chaotic as it does."

Li Qinghe thought for a moment. "If they knew your real strength, they'd be more than a little scared." She smiled. "Maybe the Night Watchmen already came — and just didn't find anything."

"Let's hope," Lu Yuan said, giving a small nod.

He glanced at her, mildly puzzled. "How did you know all that, Sister Qinghe?"

Li Qinghe laughed. "Just guessing, really. If it were actually something like an Aberration, the Night Watchmen definitely wouldn't let it go — right?"

Lu Yuan considered that. It was a reasonable point.

"Alright." Li Qinghe covered her mouth with one hand, stifling a yawn, eyes heavy with sleep. "Since everything's under control, I'm going back to bed. It's genuinely rare that I get a proper night's sleep."

"Good night, Sister Qinghe. Rest well."

"You too." She gave him a small wave and pulled her door shut.

Lu Yuan went back into his room.

Dawn was less than an hour away. He was too tired to bother cultivating. He slumped back and picked up his phone.

A stack of unread messages was waiting on Guangxin — all from Zhuo Ming, sent in rapid succession from the moment Lu Yuan had accepted his friend request. Lu Yuan had spent the whole time dealing with Pete and hadn't glanced at his phone once.

*[Zhuo Ming]: Lu Yuan? Hey, you there? Lu Yuan?*

No reply. Over ten minutes passed. Then:

*[Zhuo Ming]: Quick, get in the group! I'm in here talking you up and nobody believes me!*

A group invite link followed.

Lu Yuan typed back: "Had something to deal with earlier. Missed the messages."

Zhuo Ming replied within seconds.

*[Zhuo Ming]: Oh, you were busy! That explains why you weren't responding.*

Another group invite appeared.

Lu Yuan tapped on the name.

【Future War Gods Group】

He stared at it for a moment.

...What kind of name was that?

*War gods?*

The entire Human Race didn't even have a war god yet.

He paused.

...But wasn't he, Lu Yuan, going to become the future war god of the Human Race?

If anything, the name had been coined for him.

He accepted. But since he was the genuine article, he should at least maintain some dignity about it.

The moment he joined, Zhuo Ming came roaring into the chat:

**[Zhuo Ming]: WELCOME THE NEW WAR GOD — BIG BOSS LU YUAN HAS ARRIVED!! Drop a red packet!!**

More messages erupted behind it.

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched.

He lived in the slums. These people were asking him for red packets? Did they have any shame?

He quietly ignored the request and pulled up the member list.

Zhuo Ming. Wang Xiangxiang. Gu Yu. Wenni.

All four names left traces in his predecessor's memories. Zhuo Ming and Gu Yu were guys; Wang Xiangxiang and Wenni were girls. Both of the girls were apparently quite attractive. Wang Xiangxiang had made a particularly memorable impression on his past self — something to do with her legs.

He scrolled back through the chat history to catch up.

This class of his, he reflected, had turned out a decent number of Gene Warriors. Four Awakenings in their first year — Cao Yan, Moli, Wang Xiangxiang, and Gu Yu. Two in their second year: Zhuo Ming and Wenni. And in their third year, so far, only Lu Yuan himself. Seven total. By the standards of the school at large, that was a solid Awakening rate.

Though Cao Yan and Wang Xiangxiang's numbers were a bit inflated — both came from Gene Warrior families, and children of Gene Warriors had a significantly higher probability of Awakening. Strip those two out, and only four from ordinary civilian backgrounds had made it through.

Still. Four wasn't bad.

He read back through the recent messages.

*[Zhuo Ming]: Cao Yan and Moli are still in the Land of Origin — can't even properly welcome the new war god.*

A stream of reactions followed. Then Wenni:

*[Wenni]: If what Zhuo Ming's saying is actually true, Lu Yuan must have already inscribed a Transcendent Gene — and a strong one.*

*[Wang Xiangxiang]: @Lu Yuan — Xiao Ming says you're strong. Is that actually for real?*

A silence in the log. Then Zhuo Ming again:

*[Zhuo Ming]: No, I'm being completely serious!! Lu Yuan is the real deal!! I literally ran into three Hunters in Sandy Rock Palace — Lu Yuan got me out of there. If he hadn't been there I would've died again.*

*[Wang Xiangxiang]: Wait, seriously? You actually ran into Hunters? He's been Awakened for what, one week? He survived Hunters?*

*[Gu Yu]: Zhuo Ming is definitely exaggerating again. Lu Yuan literally just got his Awakening — how strong could he even be? Five percent tempering at most, probably.*

Silence.

Then, addressed directly to him:

*[Zhuo Ming]: @Lu Yuan — come on, big shot, say something!!*

Lu Yuan glanced at Wenni's earlier message. He hadn't expected her to be that sharp.

He typed his reply.

"Wenni's right. I did inscribe a Transcendent Gene. Elite-rank."

The group detonated.

*[Zhuo Ming]: HAHAHA!! YOU ALL HEARD THAT?! LU YUAN SAID IT HIMSELF!!*

*[Gu Yu]: Holy— An actual big shot!! I'm so jealous — mine was only common-rank.*

*[Wenni]: Same, common-rank here! Big Boss Lu Yuan starting off with elite-rank from day one — he's going to shoot straight to the top! What a foundation!*

*[Zhuo Ming]: HAHAHAHA!! I KNEW IT!! That combat technique he used in Sandy Rock Palace — definitely elite-rank, way too strong!! And that defense? Completely insane!!*

Zhuo Ming wasn't stupid. He had seen enough in that tunnel to know Lu Yuan had inscribed something high-level — and now he had the confirmation to back every word of his bragging.

Lu Yuan watched the flood of messages and felt something pull at the corner of his mouth.

His current abilities were, admittedly, a bit ahead of the pack. But not impossibly so. "Genius" was a perfectly reasonable description — extraordinary individuals appeared in every generation, rare as they were. He wasn't some impossibly OP anomaly. He was just talented.

Being the standout genius of the Future War Gods Group seemed entirely appropriate.

He'd settle for that role.

Then Wang Xiangxiang's message came through:

*[Wang Xiangxiang]: Big Boss Lu Yuan, will you carry me? I'll send thigh-high stocking photos~*

Lu Yuan stared at the screen.

...Thigh-high stocking photos.

Was he, Lu Yuan, really that kind of person?

He typed — with great, pointed indignation:

*[Lu Yuan]: How many?*

The group fell completely silent.

*[Wang Xiangxiang]: lol*

*[Gu Yu]: lol*

*[Wenni]: lol*

*[Wenni]: Xiao Mingzi. Come out here and face the consequences.*